Pittsburgh International Airport
Pittsburgh International Airport —originally Greater Pittsburgh Airport and later Greater Pittsburgh International Airport—is a civil-military international airport in Findlay Township and Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States. About 10 miles west of downtown Pittsburgh, it is the primary international airport serving the Greater Pittsburgh Region as well as adjacent areas in West Virginia and Ohio. The airport is owned and operated by the Allegheny County Airport Authority and offers passenger flights to destinations throughout North America, Central America, and Europe. PIT has four runways and covers. PIT is the largest civil/public airport in terms of land area in the state of Pennsylvania. It also hosts a sizable United States Air Force base.
First opened in 1952, the airport was initially served by five airlines and became a small hub for Trans World Airlines for over two decades. The airport underwent a massive $1 billion rebuilding and expansion that was largely designed to US Airways' specification so it could become one of their major hubs. Completed in 1992, the new airport was one of the most innovative in the world, dubbed the "airport of the future" by the New York Times, and helped to pioneer modern airport design with its X-shape to reduce distance between gates, underground tram to transport passengers around the airport, and array of shopping options, all of which were cutting-edge at the time. Traffic peaked at 20 million passengers in the late 1990s, and USAir peaked with over 500 daily flights and 12,000 employees at the airport in 2001, and the airport was an important pillar of the Pittsburgh economy.
But in the early 2000s, US Airways was unstable, due in part to the downturn in air travel immediately after September 11 attacks. USAir declared chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in a row, and reduced operations in Pittsburgh beginning in 2004, eliminating thousands of jobs and nearly bankrupting the airport itself, which was built largely to suit US Airways' needs. However, US Airways' diminished capacity at Pittsburgh opened the door for other airlines to expand operations and better serve local Pittsburgh-area passengers rather than focus on connecting passengers. The airport experienced a resurgence in the 2010s, doubling the number of carriers to 16 as the Allegheny County Airport Authority has aggressively courted airlines and lobbied for new passenger routes. Southwest Airlines has increased its presence at the airport in recent years, overtaking American Airlines as the largest carrier in terms of passengers. The airport is also a hub for regional carrier Southern Airways Express. Cargo operations have increased at the airport in recent years.
In 2017, the airport became the first in the country to reopen access to the post-security terminal for individuals who are not flying, as long as they can pass through security, after the federal government lifted restrictions put in place after 9/11. In 2021, the airport became the first in the world with its own microgrid, which provides power to the entire airport with natural gas and solar power.
An all-new landside terminal opened in November 2025, along with renovations to the airside terminal. First announced in 2017 and delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, construction began in 2021. Officials emphasized that the renovations would make the airport more suited to Pittsburgh, rather than to US Airways. The project costs ballooned from a planned $1.1 billion to $1.7 billion, funded by a mix of revenue sources including airline fees, federal tax dollars, and other airport revenue from parking and concessions.
History
First terminal (1952–1992)
Construction
Until the beginning of World War II, Moon Township was mostly a rural agricultural area. It was not considered a suburb of downtown Pittsburgh as it was too distant. It was served solely by Pittsburgh-based state and federal services and media. In the early 1920s, John A. Bell of Carnegie purchased a number of small farms in Moon and established a commercial dairy farm on his of land. He was bought out by Edward E. Rieck and his wife, and C.F. Nettrour, owners of the established Rieck's Dairy. They doubled the number of cattle at the farm.Around 1940, the federal government, through the Works Progress Administration, determined that the Pittsburgh area needed a military airport to defend the industrial wealth of the area and to provide a training base and stop-over facility. The administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt was continuing to invest in infrastructure across the country in the waning years of the Great Depression, before the US entered World War II, which had started in 1939. The agricultural expanses of Moon Township were attractive to airport planners in the city. The Civil Aeronautics Administration proposed $2.6 million to the county for a $6 million field in August 1941. The county bought the Bell Farm, and federal agencies began construction of the runways on April 20, 1942, after the US had entered the war.
In 1944, Allegheny County officials proposed to expand the military airport with the addition of a commercial passenger terminal to relieve the Allegheny County Airport, which was built in 1926 and was becoming too small. Ground was broken on the new passenger terminal on July 18, 1946. The new terminal would eventually cost $33 million and was built entirely by Pittsburgh-area companies. The new airport, christened as Greater Pittsburgh Airport opened on May 31, 1952. The first flight was on June 3, 1952. In its first full year of operation in 1953, more than 1.4 million passengers used the terminal. "Greater Pitt" was then considered modern and spacious. The airport terminal was the largest in the United States, second only to Idlewild Airport's in New York when it was completed five years later. The airport's capacity is one of its most valuable assets.
The airport was designed by local architect Joseph W. Hoover. One of the features of his style is the use of simple, exposed concrete, steel, and glass materials. The terminal building was constructed in "stepped" levels: the first floor extended farther than the second, the second floor extended farther than the third, etc. Such a design meant that the uncovered roof of the lower level could be an observation deck. In addition to the observation decks, the rounded "Horizon Room" was on the fourth floor with a commanding view of the airport. The interior of the terminal building was in the contemporary International Style, as was the exterior. One of the memorable features of the lobby was the large compass laid in the floor with green and yellow-orange terrazzo. A mobile by Alexander Calder was another decorative feature of the lobby. The mobile hangs in the center core of the new airside terminal. A re-creation of the compass was installed in the new terminal at an exhibit dedicated to old "Greater Pitt".
Operations
The first five airlines of the Greater Pittsburgh Airport were Trans World Airlines, Capital Airlines, Northwest, All American, and Eastern Airlines. The April 1957 Airline Guide shows 58 weekday departures on Capital, 54 TWA, 18 Allegheny, 8 United, 7 Eastern, 4 Northwest, 3 American and 2 Lake Central. The first jets in service at Pittsburgh were TWA 707s on a Los Angeles-Chicago-Pittsburgh loop in summer 1959.The 1956 diagram shows runway 10/28 7500 ft, 5/23 5766 ft and 14/32 5965 ft. The longest runway was still 7500 ft when jets started in 1959 but was soon extended to 8000 ft. The 10500-ft runway 10L was added by 1965.
In 1959, the east dock was added to the terminal. On July 1, 1968, international airport status was obtained with the dedication of the first customs office at the complex. Ground was broken for the International Wing, west of the original terminal building, in 1970. It opened in 1972 to accommodate federal inspection services; international flights began in 1971. The airport expanded as load increased. In 1972, rotundas were added to the end of each dock to allow more gates. In 1972, upon the opening of the international arrivals building, the airport was renamed Greater Pittsburgh International Airport. In the later 1970s growth in regional air travel created a need for more gates. In 1980 the South East Dock was opened. Even with these expansions, the terminal was too small.
From the 1960s to about 1985, TWA operated a small hub at Pittsburgh. The carrier introduced service to London's Gatwick Airport on a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar in 1981. This was the first route from Pittsburgh to Europe. It lasted four months; TWA stated that too few passengers were traveling in first class, rendering the service unprofitable. In May 1985, British Airways started a link to London's Heathrow Airport via Washington, D.C., using Boeing 747s. Two days before the maiden flight, the airline had sent one of its Concordes to Pittsburgh to celebrate the launch of the route. USAir inaugurated a link to Frankfurt in 1990. The flight aboard Boeing 767s benefited the various West German companies that had offices in the city.
Second terminal (1992–2025)
US Airways hub
US Airways had a major presence in Pittsburgh since they began passenger service in 1949. As the company grew nationally and acquired several airlines, they kept their operations and maintenance base in Pittsburgh and the airport was a major hub for the airline. A new terminal was discussed as early as 1969 but tabled in favor of expanding the existing terminal. The Airline Deregulation Act led to an explosion in passenger traffic, and Pittsburgh was the anchor of USAir's hub and spoke system. Passenger traffic in Pittsburgh grew from 11.5 million in 1980 to 17.7 million in 1987. The huge increases strained capacity at the existing airport, which had 53 gates, 33 of which were occupied by USAir. In 1988, USAir departures accounted for 86% of all operations at the airport.USAir and Allegheny County Airport Authority agreed on a massive expansion, called the Midfield Terminal Project, which broke ground in 1987 with financial backing from USAir and cost $1 billion. The new airport was split into an airside terminal containing the gates and a landside terminal for ticket counters, security, and baggage claim. The split design would allow for potential expansion to the west side of the airside terminal, and the two buildings were connected via an underground tram. The airside terminal was built for 76 total gates configured in an X-shape to accommodate the largest number of aircraft and to ensure the farthest walk distance between any two gates would take no more than 15 minutes. In addition to the main airside and landside terminals, to the west of the landside terminal a separate commuter terminal was constructed for small planes on short routes. The old terminal would be kept until 1999 to house remaining operations offices.
On October 1, 1992, the new terminal opened to rave reviews, dubbed the "airport of the future" by the New York Times. The new terminal had numerous innovative features, including a cutting-edge underground tram and an AirMall, with more than 100 retailers and eateries. The AirMall was open to local residents who were not flying and tenants were required to abide by "street pricing", prohibiting them from charging more for items or food than they did at locations outside the airport. The new landside/airside design construction eliminated the need for connecting passengers to go through security more than once. The airport was equipped to handle up to 35 million passengers per year. The modern and innovative Pittsburgh airport became a model for other airports around the world. Its design simplified aircraft movement on the airfield and enabled easy pedestrian traffic to the gates.
USAir expanded operations with the new airport, and by 1995 they had nonstops from PIT to 91 airports, plus 28 more on USAir Express, and occupied 53 of 76 gates. In 1997 the airport handled almost 21 million passengers, more than any previous year.
File:Pittsburgh TAC.tif|thumb|A terminal area chart showing Pittsburgh International Airport, a Class B airport, and its surrounding areas and flying restrictions
In August 2001, the airport had its busiest month ever with 2 million passengers and an average of 633 daily flights, and was on track for 2001 to be its busiest year ever. Then the September 11 attacks harmed the aviation industry, and US Airways in particular, setting in motion the decline of Pittsburgh as a hub. US Airways began slashing jobs a week after the attacks and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2002. High operating costs at the airport put the US Airways hub in Pittsburgh at a serious disadvantage. By 2003, US Airways was reported to be running a $40 million loss per year operating its hub at Pittsburgh, while also paying roughly 80% of the new airport's $673 million debt stemming from its requested construction of the new terminals.
Just before emerging from bankruptcy in 2003, US Airways canceled its leases at Pittsburgh without any notice to airport and county officials, a move that former Allegheny County Airport Authority executive director said was "completely immoral and unethical" in a 2021 interview. US Airways filed for bankruptcy again in September 2004. Two months later, the carrier ceased service to London-Gatwick and Frankfurt, leaving the airport without any flights to Europe. After failed negotiations to lower landing fees and debt obligations, the airline announced in December 2004 that it would be reducing operations at Pittsburgh, shifting hub operations to Charlotte and Philadelphia. By the end of 2005, the airline had eliminated 7,000 jobs while continuing to operate roughly 200 flights per day, mostly domestic. A year later, US Airways had only about 170 flights per day to and from Pittsburgh, most being domestic flights.
Unrelenting flight and job cuts continued through the decade; accompanied by the airline's closure of Concourse E on the Landside Terminal and a portion of Concourse A on the Airside Terminal. In 2007, US Airways' market share in Pittsburgh dropped below 40% for the first time since the airport's expansion in 1992. By the end of the decade, US Airways had reduced to 68 flights per day, operating from ten gates on Concourse B, and one US Airways Club location. Numerous US Airways ticketing and customer service counters were abandoned, and 15 gates on Concourse A and B were sealed off from the rest of the airport. Pittsburgh's air traffic bottomed out in 2013 with 7.8 million passengers and 36 destinations.
Despite de-hubbing the airport, US Airways chose Pittsburgh in 2008 for their systemwide flight operations control center, after a bidding war with Charlotte and Phoenix led to state and local subsidies totaling $16.25 million being offered to US Airways to build the center at Pittsburgh. The center worked on emergency operations for US Airways Flight 1549 after it landed in the Hudson River. The airline closed the center in 2015 as part of its merger with American Airlines.